Tag Archives: rastafari

To this day, I dislike being asked if I am Rasta because I don’t want to be put into a box. I’ve always been a private person and have never felt like it’s my duty to answer questions about my supposed lifestyle and what my beliefs are every time I step outside of the house. There’s a time and place for everything, and if people think I’m stuck up because of it, so be it.

I’m just a simple girl living my life quietly. Sometimes your belief system just lines up perfectly with something that already has a name attributed to it.

My process was gradual. I’ve always been into positivity/self-improvement and natural living. All the decisions I’ve made in my life have formed me into someone who can be identified as Rasta by the way I look and the way I live.

I love this video because it’s almost like a crash course in Rastafari. It’s give a quick overview of who Marcus Garvey and Haile Selassie are, the religious (Hebrew) beliefs Rastafari incorporates, why some wear their hair in (organic) locs, panafricanism, what red/gold/green represent, what the Ital diet entails, and the role of reggae music.

This video portrays a positive and simple way of living. There’s nothing illicit or cult-like about Rastafari in general.

Jamaican political leader Marcus Garvey (1887-1940) was a big supporter of Pan Africanism – the return of the displaced African diaspora (blacks living in other countries) to their homeland of Africa. He predicted that a black king would unite the Africans.

This video speaks on how Haile Selassie — who was crowned Emperor of Ethiopia in 1930 — touched the hearts of so many Jamaicans and heavily influenced the Rasta culture.